merry christmas and happy new year!

it was an eventful week... lots of 'firsts' for us as a new family: our first family roadtrip (down to PA to see family), Micah's first Christmas... and lots of new people he meet (as well as people he met before but of course he doesn't remember so he met them again!)

it was great to be able to see family over the holiday, especially with our son for the first time... it was special to see Micah with his Great-Grandparents. Lots of driving though, and it's always kind of bittersweet to be at home.

We hope your holidays were blessed and that your new year is filled with God's peace and joy.

new skills

Micah has discovered.....

reading

and sitting

how exciting!

oompa - loompa doompa-de-do

Micah's got this funny blue oufit (with big buttons on the butt) that makes him look like a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory oomp-loompa... pretty funny, just wish he would smile for the camera instead of looking like a deer in the headlights every time the flash goes off.

pajama party?

what better thing to do on a snowy night than to have a pajama party?

mom's visit... feet and friends

just last week Mom was up for a visit... for a whole week! we had a lot of fun together... too bad Dad couldn't come, too.

in other news Micah has discovered his feet, he likes them very much...

and he likes it when his friend Henry comes over to visit and play...

well, that's all for now...

surprise dinner and new tricks

last thursday I finished my work early and I knew Angela wasn't going to be home yet, so I ran to the market and got some salmon and stuff (salmon is Angela's favorite), rushed home and cooked it all up and set the table just in time...

we can get so busy that we don't often sit down and have dinner together, so it was a fun change of pace.

and in other news (that means, Micah news, cause we know that you all really just check in here to see what's new with Micah right?... right?!?!?) Micah has discovered his tongue and his legs are strong enough to keep himself up for a little bit (with a little help to keep him from falling side to side!)

jumpin', rockin' & devo's with dad

Micah is growing up sooo fast... all the little new noises he makes, he's a lot of fun just to sit and listen to. It makes you wonder if he's trying to communicate with you, or if he's just having fun squealing and laughing... whatever it is, they are the best sounds in the world.

But that's not all, Micah has been discovering all sorts of great things to do to pass the time, such as...

... hanging out on the rocking chair ...

... playing in his brand new jump seat ...

... and having devo's with Mom and Dad.

little man micah

these days he really enjoys looking at the view out from our bedroom window He will gaze intently out the window for a long time, then laugh out loud for no reason

I put him in his high chair for the first time, he kinda just flopped back and forth, i guess it's a bit too early for that.

little man no more

the other day i started going through Micah's clothes and putting away stuff that no longer fits, it was kinda nostalgic, i can't believe the little man is already growing so fast, almost four months old, i guess it's official that he's no longer a newbie, but a bonofied baby.

This has been a very exciting year for Joe once again, with the Red Sox sweeping the championship. He's convinced that the Red Sox purposefully win on years that are significant for us as in 2004 (when we got married) and now the year of Micah's birth. it's all about us, of course:)

well, let me try to post some pics, im not so good at this stuff....

alright this is not letting me do it (or more likely im doing something wrong) I'll try later.. cuz i know all anyone cares about are pictures....:)

growing up!

look at what Micah can do (with just a little help from the special seat)... sit up all by himself!!!

here are some other pictures... man, Micah is really cool.

anatomy of a yawn

thinking about Micah all day...





makes me excited to see him again, and it's always fun to come home at the end of a long day at work and hang out with my boy, just sometimes I need to get past feeling a little drained (Angela is pretty sneaky with the camera sometimes, this time catching me in the middle of a big yawn... that wasn't very nice)

date night at fenway park

for the first time since micah was born we got to go out on a date... the whole night, just the two of us! .......... almost forgot what that was like! So we went to Fenway Park to watch a Red Sox game. We go to about one game a year... the night before on Friday the Sox had just clinched the division title, so Fenway was a buzz with all the excitement of the first divsion title since 1995... on top of that it was a good game, too as they came from behind to win 6-4.

We asked the people sitting next to us to take a picture... they seemed reluctant to oblige, as you can see with how the first picture came out (I know Angela is short, but hey come on, it shouldn't be that hard to get us both in the picture right?!):

So when Angela asked them to try again... I held my breath, but it came out better the second time around:

a hat, a pumpkin, and a picnic in the park

funny how the little things in life can bring so much happiness... Micah has this hat that hangs on a hook over his changing table...

pretty exciting, isn't it?

Micah also enjoys pumpkins and picnics at the park...

"skills"

Micah's got skills!

all kinds of skills... nun-chuck skills (sp?), cake building skills, drawing skills, mustache growing skills... etc. (if you're a big fan of Napoleon Dynamite, like we are at the McMannus household, you get the joke... if not, then 'duh! you're the lamest thing ever!!')

no, but seriously Micah is learning some pretty impressive skills at only 2 months old. By the way, he is now 12.5 lbs and 22 in. long! Big boy. Pretty soon I'll put him to work landscaping! Micah has learned how to roll over already! And he holds his head up so well! (We are easily excitable around here)

here are a couple other recent pictures...

catching up... again

Micah has very proud grandparents...

he is changing so much these days... becoming more interactive (although the above picture might suggest that he still just sleeps all day long while occasionally waking up to eat... but of course this picture is a couple of weeks old cause it's been too long since we've posted), he's even starting to laugh which is so funny:

his smiles, laughter, and all the noises he makes in his attempts to respond to anybody who takes time to talk and laugh with him are really precious. Needless to say, it is an incredible joy, responsibility and blessing to watch him develop, grow and find his personality. Everybody wants to get a piece of Micah these days... Joss and Alexa took time to play with Micah today after church: